I have many images of Short-eared Owls carrying prey in their talons in flight but very few where they’re carrying the prey in their beak. This is one of them.
1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light, not baited, set up or called in
This male had landed on the sagebrush behind him with a vole in his talons but transferred it to his beak just before he took off to deliver the meal to his family at the nest.
I like the inclusion of the sagebrush in this image because it’s such a very important component of their habitat in this area of Montana (the nest was actually at the base of a nearby sagebrush plant). The following summer yearling cattle (yearlings are like bovine juvenile delinquents and wreak incredible havoc on habitat) were allowed into this area and I haven’t seen Short-eared Owls there since.
I’m fairly convinced there’s a correlation between the two events.
Ron
Cattle are a problem here at times too. I hope you’re feeling better today.
I do hope you are feeling much, much better today. And yes, the link between the adolescent hoodlum cattle and the disappearing owls would have leapt to my mind too. I hope they found somewhere else to their liking.
Wonderful photo with so many interesting elements. I’m wondering, as an easterner, if mature cattle are more considerate of the rights of others?
Kelly, mature cattle mostly just eat and poop. Yearlings run amok and tend to destroy everything they’re capable of and have access to.
I love seeing the sagebrush…can almost smell its pungent odor…cattle rule, don’t they? The older I get, the less comfortable I am with that…and eating them….or anyone else that can give me eye contact and allow me a glimpse into their soul.
I’m a sagebrush fan too, Patty. Not so much for cows…
Love this image – thanks for sharing so many of your spectacular photos.
Thank you, Jenna.
I’m sorry the cattle were allowed to disrupt the habitat – it’s a great picture! Reminds me of one unsettling day when I heard a mewing overhead… an owl had plucked up a feral kitten from the fields. I’m glad to say that there is no longer a population of feral cats in on this property.
Alison, I’m glad there’s no longer feral cats there, too. Thank you.
Wonderful shot Ron!
Charlotte
Thanks very much, Charlotte.